Rearranging

I like to rearrange. Or rather, I like the results of having rearranged. I like the way a room looks completely new when you move the couch from one side to another. But I have a big couch and a little living room, and sadly, there’s aren’t a lot of configurations for my living room that actually work.

What I do have is bedrooms. And bedroom furniture that works for boys or girls, and kids who are always up for a change. This last weekend was the last one for a while where I’m home alone with the kids without other plans, so I figured it was a perfect opportunity. My husband does not enjoy rearranging – he’s always pretty sure wherever we last had it (whatever “it” happens to be) was perfectly fine, and moving it is a waste of time and energy. I’ve learned to limit my house reshuffling to days when he’s at work all day.

In theory, it should have been quick and easy – except that none of my kids got the memo on making sure their rooms were clean first. And once I was in the mood to move, I just plowed ahead, ignoring entirely the prep work that should have gone into it. Midway through the day on Saturday, with one bed broken apart and moved out into the kitchen, three bookcases emptied (with their contents strewn all over the living room) and bedding, laundry, and lego guys all over the place – I began to regret it. The kids were enthusiastic helpers, as long as what I was doing was fun – like emptying bookcases ( or the case of my older daughter, arranging all of her dust catchers, books, notebooks and figurines back on the bookcase). But they were not really all that helpful about shoving dressers back into place, or hauling giant queen size mattresses hither and yon all over the place.

It’s three days after the fact, and we’re still not done. Oh, the furniture is moved, and the beds are made. The bookcases are even restocked. I donated three bags of toys and outgrown clothes this morning, and filled another two bags with broken toys, trash (and why kids think that stuffing trash under their dresser is a good idea is a mystery I’ll never solve….). But the giant pile of dresses and jackets that need to be hung up in my daughters’ closet is still waiting, and the stuffed animals appear to have mated and reproduced while we weren’t looking (where else would they come from?? There are thousands…).

My goal was to have everything all organized and put away before decorating commences. I dug out the Christmas/Hanukkah boxes and even managed to get the Hanukkah candles purchased. But we are a long way from organized. Fortunately, the next three days of rain postpones our tree shopping, and I’ll have the rest of the week to finish putting the house back together and ready for the holidays.